Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Velvet Ice Cream - Buckeye Classic Welcome to the Blog!

The only thing better than bringing a new product to the blog is bringing a whole company to the blog. That's right, the fine folks at Velvet Ice Cream sent me a press release the other day and I couldn't help but ask if they would consider sending over some free samples. You see, Velvet, like Graeter's and Homemade Brand, is based in Ohio. Yes, Ohioans have it very good in their state. Actually, let me stop for a second and wish Velvet an early birthday as next year will be their 100th! Talk about Tradition! Better yet, talk about a long time to hone their skills. I'm expecting very good things here.

Now I was sent three containers of Velvet ice cream, but only Buckeye Classic is labeled with "Ohio's Favorite". I thought they meant the flavor, not the brand, but this is their #1 seller. I almost forgot to mention that the point of the press release was to announce the 2013 Velvet rebranding that you see above (Crazy Food Dude has a shot of the old branding here). No offense to the old branding, but yeah, thumbs up to their new modern-yet-classic graphics.

Now let's see how well you know me. What about the peanut butter would make me like it from the first scoop? It's gotta be.... salty and flavorful! When I want a PB dessert, I don't want some flat taste, I want Reese's, or some other all natural salty peanut butter goodness. I got the flavor I wanted in a nice textured ice cream. Mmmmm, very nice.

Buckeye's are so cute, hehehe. I think I only found two in my first serving. They were surprisingly solid and crunchy. I didn't get a real clear read on their flavor since the base is so flavorful. It's more of a fun factor really since they are fairly large (note: if you let them sit out for the penny test, the core does become gooey).

The fudge swirl is super thick and there's plenty of it. Kind of looks like a cookie doesn't it? I expected a rich frosting flavor but it's actually kind of sweet, like... I don't know, some kind of funky dry brownie cookie. Wait, that doesn't sound flattering, let's try again. It tastes like, well, I taste cocoa, it's certainly not gooey, but I'm thinking that they've made it a strong solid swirl to balance out the robust peanut butter flavor.

If I went to an ice cream stand and was served this, I'd be like, whoa, that's same hard core peanut butter lovin' right there. This one is anything but timid. It just tastes like a really unique flavor (which is a hard thing to do in a ice cream filled country like ours). It may seem simple to reverse the classic chocolate with peanut butter swirl, but it seems like something very fresh here. It's like the inverse of Turkey Hill's chocolate peanut butter cup.

Well, my bowl is empty, but man do I want to bake some fresh brownies right now just so I can put a giant scoop of this stuff on top. Man would that be good. I am so glad I opened this one first. I didn't even have to eat a ton to just be happy and satisfied. I love peanut butter and they gave me a nice spin on it. So nice to have something unexpected.

On Second Scoop: It's always a little scary going back in for a second scoop when the first one strikes you so well, but we'll try it anyway. Well, I found all the buckeyes hehehehe. I'm actually having a little trouble scooping around (through) them at the moment. Ok, yeah, still totally dig the very robust flavor of this ice cream. This is no weak flavor, or even a real sweet flavor. It's rich, it's coming for you, and we're totally loving it. I also still stand by my point that this needs a nice warm brownie to sit on. Oh, I should mention again the nice mainstream texture on this one. It's not too thick or heavy (or too light), it's just right down the middle where you want it. So nice to have a non-gummy ice cream. Excellent job Velvet.

Eating a bowl of this now, not the first time I've had it and probably not the last. Love the sweet PB taste, I think the Turkey Hill varieties are too salty and Jif like. The only thing I could think of to improve this was if maybe they went with a chocolate/PB swirl for the base to get a bit more chocolate flavor in there.